Low-level laser therapy and exercise for patients with shoulder disorders in physiotherapy practice (a systematic review protocol)

BACKGROUND: Low-level laser therapy is one of the adjunct treatments of choice with exercise therapy for shoulder rehabilitation in physiotherapy clinical practices. Although previous reviews have found little use of low-level laser therapy, there are recent trials whose findings are yet to be systematically reviewed. METHODS: We plan to do a systematic review to assess the effects of low-level laser therapy with exercise and exercise alone in participants who are 18 years and above, with a clinical or radiological diagnosis of various shoulder pathologies. We will search CENTRAL, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PEDro, Science Direct, Scopus and Physiotherapy Choices regardless of publication status. We will hand search for subject-specific journals (PhotoMedicine and Laser Surgery, Lasers in Surgery and Medicine and Journals of Lasers in Medical Science) and conference proceedings of World Association for Laser Therapy. Two review authors will independently screen, select studies, extract data and assess the risk of bias based on a priori criteria. Disagreements between review authors will be resolved either through discussion or consultation with a third review author. If there are at least two clinically homogeneous studies, we will perform meta-analysis. DISCUSSION: The findings will shed more light on the benefit of low-level laser therapy as an adjunct treatment to exercise in the management of shoulder disorders. The findings may also inform decision makers in the review and development of guidelines for shoulder rehabilitation in physiotherapy practices. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42014013691 ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-015-0050-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.